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Golden’s busted bracket update: Texas is a football state after all

The state of Texas sent its finest basketball talent to the biggest college hoops showcase in the world and our boys came back blistered, battered, beaten…
And winless.

Did we really go 0-5, Lone Star hoop fans? Aren’t we better than that?
Guess not. Texas is the first state to suffer this indignity and I got caught up in the crossfire, picking four of the five Texas schools to win.

In case you were out star gazing at South By, a quick review.

The Rick Barnes era may have come to unceremonious halt after his team’s listless performance against a really underwhelming Butler team that made 5-of-21 shots in the second half, yet still won by eight points. Despite the best efforts of Jon Holmes and Isaiah Taylor to lift them to victory, the Longhorns were the real lowlight of all the Texas teams because they had a matchup that was tailor made for their style of play. Alas, they failed to reach a Sweet Sixteen for the seventh straight year and now it could cost their coach his job.

Baylor’s loss was the most paralyzing because the Bears just stopped playing with five minutes to go and let No. 14 Georgia State steal one by a single point. If you thought Texas’ loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament was damaging, the last three minutes of Baylor’s game defied description. Careless passes, bad shot selection, horrible defense. Perfect storm.

How about SMU blowing a seven-point lead in the final minute to UCLA? Gotta admit the call that got Mustangs beat was a classic case of a bad rule being interpreted correctly. Still doesn’t excuse Larry Brown’s team allowing the Bruins to stick around when they appeared cooked.

We didn’t expect Texas Southern to take out No. 1 Arizona but many of us had Stephen F. Austin pegged to upset No. 7 Utah. The Lumberjacks were the early story on the 2014 bracket and it was easy to believe they could keep the momentum going after they dominated their conference and won the Southland tournament as well. Didn’t happen that way.
Here’s the good news coming out of the state’s struggles.

Spring football is coming.

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